Prelude To Revolution
by Checkerss
Summary: A story about Nightopia before and during Wizeman's rule. Contains plenty of ideas not explored in any other NiGHTS fic. Chapter 6 is up, with the introduction of NiGHTS!
1. Birth Of A Glider

Prelude To Revolution Chapter one Birth Of A Glider 

(I like reviews!)

He was borne fully formed out of nothingness. A second before, he hadn't existed, and yet everything seemed so clear, so real, as if he'd always been there. After a few moments his eyes adjusted to the darkness, and he adjusted to his new consciousness. Curious and a bit shaken up, he explored the damp and dirty little cavern where he had appeared.

Walls surrounded him, with the only exit being a mile long tunnel extending out of the ceiling. At the end of the tunnel was an impossibly bright light. He looked away with burning eyes. The air was humid, and reeked of the slimy algae that littered the area. On the center of the cavern was a pool of shimmering clear blue water. He felt thirst for the first time, and knelt down to drink.

In the water, he saw his reflection. His face was normal by our standards, except for his eyes. They were a dark sapphire color and radiated emotion. He stood up, leaned over the pool, and looked over the rest of his body. He was skinny, with long arms and legs. He was born clothed, covered by a silky body suit. It was mainly a dull purple, with red and black stripes, particularly on his boots and curly hat.

Having finished admiring himself, he got up and felt his joints. He ran around the cavern punching and kicking the air, testing his muscles. He had a sudden urge to lift off the ground, so he jumped. His instincts kicked in, and he started hovering there. After the initial shock faded, he took control of this, and flew around, beginning to enjoy himself. He decided he liked this new way of moving, and started to bounce off the walls happily, doing midair loops and twirls to the top of the tunnel. On the way up, his eyes gradually adjusted to the light.

Finally at the top, he peered over the edge and into the lush grassy landscape he had discovered. He climbed up onto the ground, and took in all the new sights. In awe, he walked over to a crab-like critter and poked it. The crab was easily angered, and his finger was sore for the rest of the day. Feeling his first bout of anger, he kicked the crustacean into a tree. Walking on, he found a thin sheet of purple parchment blowing around. Wondering what it was, he flew after it until it was in his grasp. There were weird contorted symbols all over it. Making a face, he strained to understand it. After a few seconds, he felt a tingling sensation in his head. He rubbed it went back to work on the writing. The figures shifted into focus, and he suddenly understood it! Not only that, he now realized what everything around him was called- Grass, trees, sun, sky! He even knew that the thing that poked him was a "kirkle". After the excitement over his new comprehension, he went back and read the paper:

Nightopia And YOU!

_A guide for newcomers._

_By Erik Lunar_

Well, if you're reading this, you're probably new to our wonderful land, Nightopia. Heh, you're probably still wound up that you can understand this. Anyway, let's get started. There are two worlds that make up our universe: The Dreamworld and the Wakeworld. 

_Nightopia, The Dreamworld, is a series of zones, "dreams", that are connected to each other by different gateways. Each one is unique in some way, and nobody's ever mapped them all. Some theorize that there is an infinite amount, but nobody else cares. In our world, every dream has its own laws of physics. In one world you could be weightless, and in another everything could be upside-down. No big deal. There are four main races in the Dreamworld: Pians, Gliders, Shadows, and Dreamers (or Humans, as they call themselves). The Pians are the carefree guardians of the dreams that always play and have fun with the dreamers and all that good stuff. The Gliders are usually loners that are rather rude to everyone else. Some of them are scientists, writers, and so on. Some of them can be quite mean. None of them are nearly as sadistic, however, as the Shadows. You see, among the Dreams are what are known as Nightmares. Every Shadow has its own Nightmare, and anybody that wanders in is in for a rough time. These guys can sense your greatest fears, and delight in exploiting them. If you pass through a gateway into any scary looking places, I'd steer clear._

_The Wakeworld, unlike ours, is one big definite mass of land and water that follows the same laws of physics throughout. Their world is fully mapped.  There is only one sentient species in the Wakeworld, the Humans. The humans have lots of neat gizmos and things, but their world is very dull. When they go to sleep, their minds take them to our world, where they stay for a little while until they wake up or drift into deeper sleep. It's a mystery how and why this happens. There's a barrier keeping our worlds separated, but every night they surpass it. Once again, only those weird little scientist guys care._

_Now look at yourself. If you're a short lil dude with pointy ears, you're probably a Pian. If you can fly, and don't look like you came from the bowels of the deepest fiery Nightmare, you're most likely a glider. If you do, and you're a shadow, please don't track me down._

'So, I'm a Glider…' He thought.

'Hey, wait a second, I'm thinking in words now! Nice! Hmm, I need a name. How about…'

He scanned through a brand new list of names in his mind.

'Reala!'

He was just sitting down to rest when he noticed something flying overhead.


	2. The Mysterious Jester

Prelude To Revolution 

**Chapter Two**

**The Mysterious Jester**

A thick sharp playing card fell from the sky, nearly hit Reala, and embedded itself in the ground. After a bit of work, he successfully wrenched it out and looked it over. It was a joker card with the name "Jackle" imprinted on it in sparkling red and yellow ink.

"That thing must have dropped it…Jackle?"

There was a sudden burst of smoke and an unusual creature emerged. It had no body, from what Reala could see. Where arms and legs would normally be were empty spaces filled in by a purple cloak that hung off its invisible neck. It had hands, feet, and a head that hung eerily in midair. On its head was a hat similar to Reala's, but the two horn-like obtrusions were shorter and curled down in front of his face. 

"Yeah, I'm Jackle, what do you want?"

"Err… Well, I found your playing card."

Jackle took a look at the card and his eyes bulged.

"Holy Wakeworld, **what did you do to my card!? It's got dirt all over it!**"

"It's not my fault you dropped it!"

"I dropped it? Are you sure? Well, that's entirely different. Say, do you have any fish?"

"No…"

"Good. Well, I better be going now!"

Jackle started to fly away, and Reala, needing some kind of purpose, followed him.

"Hey, wait for me!" He yelled.

Jackle, still flying, looked behind him.

"What do you want, man?"

"I need something to do."

"Oh, don't tell me, you came alive in a cave somewhere, didn't you?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, alright then, come with meeeeee!"

"Alright."

Jackle slowed down so Reala could catch up.

"Oh boy, this is gonna be so much fun! We can play Go Fish and Old Maid and Rummy and Pin The Tail On The Snip and all that good stuff!"

"…Are you ok?"

"Never been better! I think… To the dream gate!"

He flew off towards a golden vortex in the distance.


	3. Between Dreams

Prelude To Revolution 

**Chapter Three**

**Between Dreams**

Jackle stopped in front of a whirling circle of shimmering gold that hung suspended in midair. The dazzling light it radiated burned Reala's eyes, but Jackle was unfazed.

"Well pal, this is a Dream Gate. It can take us to a whole new dream. Cool, huh?"

"Sure is bright."

"Yeah, I thought that way at first, once I stopped staring at the patterns."

That remark must have reminded him, as he began to look mesmerized by the shifting shapes in the portal. 

"Err, hey, are you ok?" Asked Reala.

"Will you stop asking that? I'm always ok! …'Cept for when my cards get busted…"

"All right then, are we going through?"

"…And I really hate it when random people tap your shoulder and you're like 'Oogh!' and they say 'gotcha!' Man I hate that!"

Reala stared for a second and waved his hand in front of the weirdo's face. He stopped mumbling and look slightly shamed.

"Oh I'm sorry, was I talking about shoulder tapping again? Let's go."

Jackle stuck his foot in the gate and it promptly stopped working.

"What the crazy!?"

He tried to pull his foot out to no avail.

"This never happened to me before… Stupid Dream Gate!"

Reala watched as one of two newcomers tapped Jackle on the shoulder.

"Grrr, stupid thi-**GAAAH!**" He whirled around. "**I told you not to do tha-**Oh, hello, officer! Lovely day, huh? The sun's shining like an apricot, huh?"

The person that tapped Jackle on the shoulder gave him a funny look and began to speak.

"I'm Ivy, and I'm the guardian of Spring Valley." 

Ivy seemed to have a certain affinity for plants. Instead of limbs she had vines, which worked like their respective appendages. The arm-vines has little leafy hands on the end. Her torso and head were one, with no nead to separate them, and the vines connected to the bottom and sides of it. She was a mix between human and plant, with petal eyelashes and mossy hair. Replacing flesh was a layer of leafy cellulose. With her was a huge animal, bugger than everyone else there. He looked like a multicolored cross between a dragon and shark. On his neck was a little sticker that said "Hello, My name is Gillwing." He followed Ivy around and lacked the ability to speak. He acted like a loyal dog, and affectionately twirled around her, protecting her from any danger.

She glanced at Reala. "You're new, huh? I shut down the portal because I need to get your profile down before you leave."

Jackle stopped tugging at his foot and watched.  
"What's you name?"

"Reala."

"And you're his new apprentice, right?" She pointed at Jackle, who looked surprised.  
"What? He is no- I mean... Yes he is! Yeah, um, he's my apprentice all right, and we were just heading for the Soft Museum dream!"

"Ok. Let me just get this all down." She wrote Reala and Jackle's names onto her notepad, while Jackle started to notice her companion.

"Say… When's the last time that thing's eaten? And what or **who **did it last eat?" Jackle pointed at Gillwing nervously."

"Don't worry, he only eats criminals." Ivy replied, slightly amused.

"Well, um, good thing I'm not a criminal, huh? Er, can we go now?"

"Sure."

Ivy snapped her hand and the portal resumed its patterns. Jackle, who was leaning on the shut-down gate, fell through with a surprised wail. Reala went in after him.


	4. The Soft Museum

Prelude To Revolution 

**Chapter Four**

The Soft Museum 

The inside of the Dream Gate was a near overwhelming array of colors, patterns, and light. Jackle was having a ball bouncing around and cackling, while Reala was trying to keep from tossing his cookies. Eventually Jackle was far ahead of Reala, and could only be traced by the loud and maniacal laughter echoing through the passage. It suddenly stopped. A few moments later Reala felt a strange sense of dread. A shadowy black insect-like creature with an unusual aura of hate and darkness skulked past him, chilling him to the cells. It was wearing a paper hat… It went by Reala, looking at a spiky watch on its wrist. Soon after, Jackle was near him shivering.

"**Holy nightmare, that was a SHADOW!**" He yelled. "I hate those things!"

"What's it up to?"

"Probably off to Spring Valley to do some terrorizing. Gosh dangit, those things should take up a better hobby… Like knitting… Or playing cards!"

"Why did it have a briefcase? Isn't that kinda weird?"

"It's not weird. Trust me, I _know_ weird. It is unusual though. Maybe he's a business shadow…"

Reala squinted at Jackle, then flew off. Jackle caught up quickly and led the way to the teal gate at the end of the tunnel. Jackle hesitated.

"All right pal, it's your turn to go in first. I don't trust these things any more!" 

He pushed Reala through. When there appeared to be no stuck feet, he went through himself. Once out, he noticed Reala's amazed expression while he stared at the nearby light blue building.

"Oh, that's the Soft Museum!" Jackle informed him. "I own it!"

"Did you build it all by yourself? It's huge!"

"Err, I don't remember…" 

(Flashback to Jackle with a whip, yelling at a mass of pians)

"Work harder! Build faster! I'm not paying you to slack off!"

"We're not being paid, idio- OW!"

(Back to the present)

"Yep, don't remember at all. Hehehe…."

"…"

"Mmhmmm… Ok, let's go in!"

Jackle led the way through a lush garden of oddly shaped plants that bobbed and bounced of their own accord. Reala started to watch one, which seemed to be playing solitaire, but Jackle yanked him along. The garden led to a polished brick walkway, where Jackle stopped and pointed up. Reala's eyes followed his finger and were overwhelmed by the sheer complexity and strangeness of the museum. 

'It's so different once you get close…' He thought. 

Everything about the museum was unorthodox, from the rubbery door to the rotating towers that stood out sideways from some walls. Everything was moving and specifically calculated to look as impossible as it could. Apparently physics were banned, or at least entirely different here. Reala thought back to the paper he'd read earlier, and how dreams could have completely different laws of reality. What a perfect example!

"Stop staring, I don't got all day! I _was_ flying back from court before you know. Got in trouble over the _silliest_ thing, you'll never believe it."

"What?"

"He was trying to prosecute me for breaking into his house. I just wanted to see what was on the Nightopian radio, and his was closest…"

Reala decided to humor him for a bit.

"Yeah, um, what a loser!"

"Indeed. To the museum!"

They walked down the path to the rubbery blue doors. Jackle pushed one open and walked through. Reala tried to go in after him, but the door bounced back and hit him in the face.

"Ow!"

He took a few steps back and ran into the door, pushing it as hard as he could. It started bouncing back and forth uncontrollably, but he managed to squeeze through. He caught up to jackle.

"Welcome to my museum!"


	5. Story of a Scientist

Prelude To Revolution 

**Chapter 5**

**Story of a Scientist**

Wizwik sat at his desk and gazed at the disheveled old brownish wall of his apartment. Staring off into space helped him concentrate. He had finally shooed off his "friends" from the laboratory dream where he worked so he could come home. Home sweet home, where the wallpaper peeled and the pungent odor shut off your nostrils. He took out a piece of paper from his drawer. It had a colored sketch of 5 glowing round orbs, each of a different color. The red one was circled. At the top of the sheet were the words "The Ideya Theory". Wizwik sighed as he looked it over.

"If only the other scientists believed me… They say my ideas are crazy, but then go back to their rooms and write meaningless reports on insignificant things like the mating habits of the crewle… I'll make them see their folly and the power of the ideya! As soon as I figure out how to get proof of its existence…"

He decided to do something about all this and go out in search of field samples to test, and left the dark gloomy dream of the labs and apartments in favor of the cool breezy Mystic Forest.

A young dreamer named Carl wandered through the forest, admiring the vast array of plants and animals. As he was walking by a glittering stream, he thought he heard a noise. Before he could turn around, a blue blur jumped on him. He hit the ground hard and spun around. The creature that had accosted him was almost his height, and looked like a fully-grown, albeit short human. It had white spiky hair and wore the long blue robes of a Nightopian scientist. It may have been small, but it's grip was strong, and Carl was soon carried through a dream gate and into Wizwik's musty room. 

Wizwik, satisfied that he'd actually caught a dreamer, tied him to a table, put duct tape over his mouth, and got ready to experiment. First, he collected a skin sample, something he'd never worked up the guts to attempt before. He looked at it under his microscope, and between the usual cells was a strange colored mass keeping them all together.

"This must be what holds their dream state together! What a discovery!"

Using his superior knowledge of cells and ions, he soon discovered many unique properties of the dreamer's genome. 

"The colorful bonding agent of the cells is averse to ammonia mixed with sodium. Not exactly a common solution, but I happen to have a bit of both chemicals in my experiment preparation box!"

Wizwik quickly mixed up the liquid and poured it onto his gloves. He slowly put his hands up the boy's chest, grinned when it slipped right through, grabbed hold of a warm spherical object inside him, and yanked it out with one quick motion. Carl's dreamstate disappeared, he woke up, and when the doctors found him he was insane. He never dreamed again.


	6. Shade City

Prelude To Revolution 

**Chapter 6**

Shade City Author's Note: I enjoy all reviews a great deal, but it would be helpful if you guys pointed out any mistakes I made or things I could do better, along with the praise. It's very educational. Enjoy the story! 

The interior of the Soft Museum was quite a bit saner than the bouncing whirling madness on the outside. Reala guessed that it must be the lobby. The floor was tiled teal and white and the only things in the room were some chairs and a big desk. At the desk was a glider that looked like a smaller purpler version of Reala. He wore the same outfit, but his was pink, purple, yellow and white. A strange jewel glowed red on his chest. To the left of the jewel was a nametag with a little crayon depiction of the museum and the name "NiGHTS". 

"Hey Jackle! Who's that, a new visitor? Maybe your cousin? Another lawyer?" Nights asked curiously, looking up from his magazine.

"Nope, he's my new 'apprentice'."

"Apprentice? You got an apprentice!?"

"I didn't mean to! He's new to Nightopia and I was just showing him around. Then the Spring Valley guardian came along and I had to make him my apprentice to satisfy her. Say, got any candy?"

NiGHTS glanced around shiftily while he slowly hid the chocolate in a drawer.

"Sorry, all out. Say, I have an idea! Let's give your new buddy a job here! What's his name anyway?"

Jackle pushed Reala up to the desk.

"I'm Reala. I guess I could work here. I have nothing better to do. I saw you hide the chocolate by the way."

"WHAT!?" Jackle pushed Reala aside and leapt at the desk. Before he could make it there, NiGHTS devoured the last of the sweet, sweet candy. Jackle pulled himself off the desk angrily and walked back to Reala.

"You're the new delivery guy. Now excuse me while I go pout." Jackle slowly sulked away.

"Is it just me, or is he-" Reala was interrupted by the frantic waving of NiGHTS' long arms. 

"Shush! The walls have ears!"

"All right… Um, what do I do as a delivery boy?"

"You get assigned to different dreams and deliver things to them or pick things up from them."

"What kind of stuff would a museum deliver?"

"The good kind. Your first assignment is to deliver a package to Shade City. Oh yeah, before you go I have to supply you with my secret delivery weapons. I invented them myself!"

NiGHTS led Reala to a plain wooden door marked "Janitor's Closet". He unlocked it and went in, Reala right behind him. 

"Turn around, I can't give away how to get into my secret room."

As soon as Reala turned around, Nights kicked the wall and it fell over.

"Right this way, please."

The walls of NiGHTS' room were covered in shelves filled with gadgets. He walked around them, casually picking up gizmos and handing them to Reala.

"See this? It may look like a dagger, but it's actually a watch! Nifty huh?"

Reala took it and placed it on a random shelf while NiGHTS wasn't looking.

"Ooh, this one's good. It looks like an ordinary bow tie, right?"

Reala nodded.

"That's because it is." NiGHTS put it back on the shelf.

"Okay, now for the big stuff. See this doll?" He picked up a crudely done plush Hollow. "If you pull this string it'll attack your enemy!" He handed it to Reala, who stuffed it in his pocket.

"And this, my friend, is the greatest weapon of all!" He picked up a black spoon. "I like to call it… the Stun Spoon!"

"It's just a kitchen utensil."

"Oh, but that's where you're wrong! Anyone that licks this spoon will be knocked cold for up to an hour! You see, it's made from a mixture of wood, mashed up sleeping pills, and a lot of glue!" He handed the Stun Spoon to Reala, who stuck it in his pocket with the doll. NiGHTS reached under his bed and pulled out a package.

"Now that I'm not the delivery boy anymore, you can have this package! Bring it to Shade City. Be warned though, lots of weirdos live there."

A couple of Dream Gates later, Reala was standing on the edge of the city. According to NiGHTS, it was always rainy and gloomy in this dream. Apparently this was the preferred home to Nightopian scientists, who were kicked out of every other dream for being to weird. Deciding he'd get to his destination faster by flying, he ascended into the air. It was storming pretty hard up there. He read the directions on the package by the occasional flash of lightning:

WIZWIK SHADE CITY FIND THE DIRTIEST ROOM IN THE RATTIEST HOTEL AND GIVE THIS TO THE UGLIEST GUY 

_THERE._

Reala started flying around the city looking for his destination. It was cold up there and he was getting soaked in the rain, so he sped up his search. After about 15 minutes of flying he found the hotel. He asked the clerk which room Wizwik lived in. Apparently room 667. Reala eventually found the door after climbing 47 flights of stairs and walking though 48 ugly yellow halls with paint-chipped walls. He rang the doorbell and waited. Suddenly a hand shot out from behind the door and dragged him in. A small little guy lunged at Reala with a big empty syringe and was inches away when he got a mouthful of spoon. Before he could poke Reala, he was knocked unconscious and fell on the floor with a crash. Reala hit him on the head with the package's box a couple times, took the spoon out of his mouth, and left the heavy package on his back. Annoyed, he slammed the door and headed for home. Five minutes later he realized he forgot the money for the delivery. He walked back into the room, kicked the unconscious Wizwik in the head, and took his wallet.

When Wizwik woke up, the package was pinning him down and it took him a half hour to get up. He also had a huge headache for some reason.


End file.
